Why many businesses die prematurely in Nigeria

It is not a walk in the park to give birth to a business in this clime, because of many problems bedeviling our country. One of them is power-outage. This is one of the big reasons why many businesses die prematurely in Nigeria. To last in business in this part of the world, you will need to build a lot of resilience into your business model.

Also, it is important that I mention that waiting endlessly, because you want to start big is not going to help you two hoots. I advise that you start in a small way and have a big plan that can accommodate growth as you keep pursuing it! In-fact, if you are not willing to start small, you are likely not going to start at all. It is important that I synoptically address this crucial and germane issue, because many have been waiting for many years, as an effect of wanting to start big. One of the reasons for churning out this piece is to push you, so you can start right now the business of your dreams!

Every great company you see today started small yesterday. This is to further encourage you to start with what you have and from where you are right now. Stop waiting for the time that everything will be right. That time may never come till you breathe your last. Once again, go ahead and start small, but make sure you have a very big plan that can accommodate growth as you pursue the business.

Another reason many businesses are dying prematurely is because they do not know the true purpose of business. Many wrongly go into business only because of money. Kindly hear me right now. If money is the only driving-force for you wanting to start your business, you will certainly not last in business. The right purpose must be because you love the business and people. When you always serve the people satisfactorily, you would ceaselessly make money. If the sole motivating factor is money, you would soon start watering down the quality of what you are offering the people. This has led to the undoing of many people who were once in business a few years back. But if you are out to serve the people, you would sustain the quality for a lifetime.

Once again, why is it that about 90 per cent of businesses fail within the first five years of their existence? Why does this happen? One, people do not do as they promise their customers. A fashion designer would promise to deliver a dress in two days, but would not deliver it in a month. Lately, my wife changed her fashion designer, because of this issue. Her fashion designer promised to deliver what she gave her to do for her, but three months after, she failed to deliver what she gave her. Many fashion designers have become history, not because they were not good, but because they were not doing as they promised.

Two, people mistakenly use their start-up capital to rent shops and employ workforce without having a single client. When you are just starting out, do not waste your hard-earned money to employ too many staff, killing the new business. When you are just starting out, you would be both the Chief Executive Officer and receptionist at the same time. I did all that when I started the World-Class Impact Network Limited many years ago. Also, you really do not need an office in this century, because high-paying clients would not come to your office, you would go to them. What you need are tools, equipment and clients!

Furthermore, people mistakenly run businesses without having corporate accounts, so they spend more than they make and when the business collapses, they would say it is the devil.  You know the devil is behind everything that collapses in this part of the world. We deceive ourselves a lot. This is why we are not really progressing. Instead of accepting responsibility when we fail and learn from it and move on, we would blame everything on the devil.

Buddy, the first thing you need to do before floating your business is to register it, so as to know what comes in and what goes out. After registering it, go to one of the banks around and open a corporate account for it. Without a corporate account, you are not running a company. And this is why you are being paid peanuts for working so hard. It is wrong to use your private account for your company. High-paying clients do not pay with cash, they will always ask for corporate accounts. Hear me; I do not need to be a fortuneteller to know that a business without at least a corporate account will definitely die prematurely!

It is important that I mention to you that you should go into the sphere of business that you are passionate about, because this is the only thing that will sustain you till it begins to bring money. Remember, it is not immediately you start a business that high-finances will start rolling it, so go into it because it is your area of strength. Go into it because it is your area of love. You cannot but stand out in your area of love! Anything outside of this will cause you not to last in business.

Lastly, do not go into any business you do not understand. Many businesses have died prematurely because of this error. Study about it online. Learn about it by reading through relevant books on it. Become a mentee of those who have succeeded doing it. Go and do internship, so as to know how to run the business successfully. Whatever price it will cost you to learn, pay it! If it requires that you go back to school to learn it, do it! Attend seminars on it. Do not enter into any business being ignorant. If you do enter the business of your dreams being ignorant, it will end up dying prematurely. It is only a question of time. Till I come your way again next week Monday, see you, where successful business leaders are found!

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